NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated and Comprised Journalism

On Inside City Hall host Errol Louis in a discussion of the stations report on Berlin Rosen admitted that he was surprised at the reach of Berlin Rosen. He expressed concern that advocates that use the media might not be independent. He said he was shocked to lean that the Coalition for the Homeless which was blaming Cuomo for the increase the city's homeless hired Berlin Rosen as its consultant. Louis on NY1: "Last week when I interviewed the coalition for the homeless, I did not know they were a Berlin Rosen client. The report (the coalitions issued) goes out of their way to blame everyone but the mayor for the record high homelessness in the city. They talked (blamed) the governor and (blamed) at length the last past mayor. When I realized they were a client, I realized this is a problem not just for transparency and private sector clients not being registered lobbyist . . . this works both ways. Maybe we got advocates who are not independent advocates."

Unmentioned (in news reports) but a clear example is Berlin Rosen's tri-partite work for ACORN, Forest City Ratner, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, all allies on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. . . Louis himself acknowledged some doubts, saying that it was "startling" that, in his interview with Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless--also a Berlin Rosen client--"they seemed to go out of the way to blame record high homelessness on everybody but the mayor.... Maybe we've got advocates who are not quite the independent advocates we're used to seeing." (Note: Markee is marriedto journalist Lizzy Ratner, a daughter of Bruce Ratner.) . . . It's good that Louis is skeptical, but keep in mind that he now occupies a more neutral position than he did when he wrote a column for the Daily News. In May 2006, as I wrote, a column about neighborhood support for Atlantic Yards failed to mention how three of the five people mentioned were associated with signatories to the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement.